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Land & Building Department v. Rattan Singh

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8716 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8716 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

The Delhi Land and Building Department had acquired land from Rattan Singh and others without taking possession or completing compensation in time, and a finding below held the acquisition had lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act. The department appealed against that finding.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held the point was already settled against the department by its lead judgment, Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016, and dismissed the appeal on that basis. It gave the department one year to issue a fresh Section 11 notification and restart the acquisition, failing which it had to return possession of the land to the original owner.

Lesson Learnt

This case reinforces, once again, that acquiring authorities, whether DDA or a Delhi government department, must act within statutory timelines on possession and compensation, or risk the acquisition lapsing entirely.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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